E3, the annual video game summit in Los Angeles, was a little different in 2010, mainly because I didn’t need to book a flight and hotel. For the first time in eight years, I didn’t have to spend two days traveling and a week living out of a suitcase. I now live in LA, so the only thing between me in Burbank and E3 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center was traffic. Still making the all-too-familiar six-hour flight from Philly to LA was Nicole Kline, Gaming Target’s new Senior Editor. Alex Roth, another new writer for the site, and my roommate/reviewer Kenny Esbenshade rounded out the crew Gaming Target had attending this year’s industry-only expo.

I picked Nicole up from the Burbank airport and went out of my way to rig together a sign with her name on it. More than once, she has commented on being jealous of my name being held up at airports by drivers who take me to the various video game press junkets. Writing her name on a piece of paper and attaching it to marshmallow skewers (left over from camping on the 2009 roadtrip) did the trick. From there, we went to the PlayStation Blog reader meet-up, then Microsoft’s strange “Natal” event at the Galen Center. At this unveiling, Microsoft changed the codename of its motion-controlled gaming device to the just-odd-sounding Kinect – even stranger was the fact that they had us dress up in white robes with LED shoulder-pads. Microsoft made up for it the next day at their press conference.

The first set of media briefings occur the day before E3. I attended the Microsoft press conference in the morning at the Wiltern Theatre where the company showed off Kinect a little more. Kinectimals seems like a cute Nintendogs-like game, only with a tiger. Neat, but not exactly my speed. Kinect Adventures and Joyride seem like fast-paced alternatives that are better suited for the thrill-seeking gamer inside of me. Rafting down a river with a friend (pictured) without a controller – or a paddle – looked like a lot of fun. Dance Central, from the makers of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, also appears to be a launch-window winner. On the traditional gaming side, Halo: Reach is going to be an obvious top-seller. Microsoft wrapped-up by unveiling the Xbox 360 Slim model, which is black, smaller and, more importantly, quieter. Best of all, the company will be mailing every member of the press in attendance one for free. That makes up for all of the “Red Ring” system failures we’ve experienced.

EA and Ubisoft’s press conferences followed at the historic Orpheum Theatre and Los Angeles Theatre. Both were about action-packed games. EA showed off Medal of Honor, Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm, then capped off its lineup with the Bioware MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Ubisoft had comedian Joel McHale helm its press conference and demoed a lineup that was all over the place: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Shaun White Skateboarding, Rayman Origins, Michael Jackson for Kinect, a concept game called Innergy that uses your heartbeat to manipulate the game and a laser tag game called Battle tag. I doubt the non-traditional last two will see the light of day (or get a big marketing push to make you realize they released), but it’s nice to know Ubisoft is thinking outside of the box.

The eve of E3 concluded with an unforgettable Activision event: Usher, Will.i.am, Tony Hawk skating up & down ramps, Tool’s Maynard performing Bohemian Rhapsody, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden singing Black Hole Sun, Jane’s Addiction, N.E.R.D., and Eminem with Rhianna.

Tuesday morning, the first day of E3, was jam-packed because press conferences and the start of the actual expo overlap. Nintendo had its E3 2010 press conference in the morning at the Nokia Center. That would be extremely convenient because it’s right next to the LACC. However, Sony had its press conference out of the way at the Shrine Auditorium afterward. No matter – both were worth going to. Nintendo unveiled its 3DS system, which is a dual-screen portable like the Nintendo DS, but one that has a glasses-free 3D display. Kid Icarus, a long-lost Nintendo character, is returning for the 3DS, while Donkey Kong (and his nephew Diddy) are making a comeback on the Wii. Another forgotten name among video games is Mickey Mouse. Disney’s digitally absent mascot will make his way to the Wii this fall courtesy of legendary game designer Warren Spector. Even with all of that, the return I was most excited about at the Nintendo E3 press conference was GoldenEye 007. Growing up with a Nintendo 64 as teenager, my friends and I used to stay up until all hours of the night to play GoldenEye 64’s addictive multiplayer mode. I’m being cautious, but hopeful about this “remake.”

Sony’s press conference was up next and, like Microsoft, the company unveiled a motion-controlled device. PlayStation Move for PS3 looks closer to what the Wii has to offer than Xbox 360’s controller-free Kinect. Its wand-like remote just adds a light on the end and there’s even a nunchuk-like device to go along with the Move. The wand shape was perfect for games that involved casting magic spells, sword-fighting and golfing. Three industry cameos took everyone by surprise: PlayStation’s humorous “figurehead” (at least in commercials) Kevin Butler appeared for comic relief, Valve CEO Gabe Newell (who did a mea culpa after disparaging the PS3 in 2007) announced that Steam is in the works for the Sony’s console, and Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe rolled in inside a Sweet Tooth ice cream truck. He announced a new Twisted Metal game for PS3.

On to the actual E3 event, our first day was filled with appointments with Nintendo (hands-on with 3DS, Zelda for Wii), MTV (to play Rock Band 3), Activision (hands-off with GoldenEye 007, Call of Duty: Black Ops) and Bethesda Softworks (a Rage demo). The night wrapped with me, Nicole and Alex attending Bethesda’s annual party at the Saddle Ranch on Sunset. Day two had more in store: Valve showed us Portal 2 in the morning, Sony gave us a tour of its lineup in a private loft that overlooks South Hall, and Square-Enix gave us a booth tour, which included the promising return of action RPG, Deus Ex.

The final day, the one that always ends two hours earlier than the others, wrapped-up with reporting on everything that THQ, Konami, Microsoft, Sega, Namco and EA has to offer. EA had the widest range, from sports to MMOs (like Star Wars: TOR) to shooters (like Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm, the one I’m looking forward to the most).

E3 2010 turned out to be a very different experience. I wasn’t traveling as far, yet I was in charge of a lot more people (four total) and trying to coordinate appointments on-the-fly. Overall, the reporting of me and my staff was a success, with the results turning into a “hits bonanza.” Even if I’m not fully convinced about all of the motion-gaming and 3D graphics that were being pushed at this year’s convention, people were tuning into the site to see what we thought. Look for more coverage over the course of the next couple of days at Gaming Target.